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Traveling Artwork Display Debuts at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal

Stunning images demonstrating the beauty and importance of light are on display at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Avenue, from June 1 through June 14, 2015.

“The Port of Bellingham is pleased to host this amazing exhibit” said Port Terminals Manager Dave Warter. “The eye-catching displays will be interesting to travelers passing through the Bellingham Cruise Terminal as well as to educators, students, individuals and community groups.”

The Light: Beyond the Bulb program illustrates how light-based science and technology have revolutionized the world through applications in medicine, communications, entertainment and culture. The exhibit is free of charge and is sponsored in part by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics (www.spie.org), which has its home headquarters in Bellingham. SPIE is an educational society serving nearly 264,000 constituents from approximately 166 countries.

“With eye-catching images and clear explanations, Light: Beyond the Bulb displays are extremely effective in illustrating how light-based technologies enhance and improve our lives,” said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. “Our goal is to reach beyond the scientific community and engage everyone, especially young people. We hope to spark interest in science and improve public awareness of photonics, the science of light – to inspire students looking for careers, inventors looking for technologies that can transition their ideas into reality, and people throughout the world looking for ways to solve problems as basic as clean-water systems and as creative as works of art.”

Images show technology that connects the world via broadband networks and the Internet with hair-thin flexible optical fibers of glass or plastic, explain the workings of the giant telescopes through which we see the distant universe and learn about its history, describe a recently discovered new class of eye photoreceptors used to form images, and even tell why bluebells are blue, Arthurs said.

The displays are made available through the Light: Beyond the Bulb program sponsored by SPIE, the Chandra X-Ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the International Astronomical Union, as part of the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 observance.

More information about the customized exhibitions can be found online at www.lightexhibit.org/howtoexhibit.html

The Bellingham Cruise Terminal is the southern connection for the Alaska Marine Highway System. San Juan Cruises, Schooner Zodiac and Gato Verde utilize the Terminal to provide whale watching and cruising adventures through the San Juan Islands. Dining options are available from Streat Food Café 8-5:30 pm on Friday and 8-3 pm on Saturday. An assortment of Pacific Northwest themed gifts is also available from Inside Passage Gifts.